Streamers have been finding creative ways to play games for years, but FromSoftware content creators seem to take things to the next level. Having already beaten the DLC with a controller, MissMikkaa is now tackling Shadow of the Erdtree using a dance pad.
At the time of writing, MissMikkaa has conquered a few bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, including epic dance-offs with the Dancing Lion and Renalla. She’s also been defeating a few lesser-known bosses along the way, sometimes in a single encounter. However, as she continues this run, she’ll almost certainly hit a wall of difficulty at the final boss, which has given just about everyone a good 500 deaths before finally falling.
Shadow of the Erdtree is draining enough without the dance pad
FromSoftware’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion for Elden Ring brings a few new mechanics to the table that make it more challenging than the base game, even for veterans. A new level system makes it feel like starting fresh, and mastering each new weapon and every attack pattern from each boss is exhausting enough.
When you consider that MissMikkaa’s competing with all of that and jumping around to press every button required, this run sounds crushingly difficult and maddening to get your head around. I struggle to use a dance pad for actual dancing games, let alone a Soulsborne title.
As for how this works, the dance pad is set up to take the basic inputs you’d use on a controller. Some inputs, such as double tapping a directional button, trigger running, but everything is pretty much set out as you can see it on-screen. If you watch the clips of MissMikkaa tackling these bosses, you can see how she’s already learned their attack patterns, allowing her to dodge, jump, and heal when she knows she’s safe before going in for her attacks.
This isn’t the first time MissMikkaa’s tackled a FromSoftware game with a dance pad. Her most impressive feat in Elden Ring was beating two runs of it simultaneously. One using a controller, and the other using a dance pad. I have no doubt that the streamer has plans to do exactly the same thing in Shadow of the Erdtree once she’s successfully beaten it on both the controller and dance pad individually.
Soulslike games are some of the best to watch anyone play. Viewers can get a sense of the player’s frustration and elation when it comes to bosses so easily. Shadow of the Erdtree might be the biggest challenge when it comes to what the genre has to offer to date, so I’d expect someone out there to take playing it in new ways even further on stream pretty soon. That is if MissMikkaa doesn’t outdo herself first.
